Masjid Al-Furqon, Dusun Bungkus, Parangtritis

Parangtritis, the dramatic black sand beach south of Yogyakarta whose crashing Indian Ocean waves feature in Javanese legend as the kingdom of the sea goddess Nyai Roro Kidul, spreads across the coastal lowlands of the Bambanglipuro subdistrict. Within the hamlet of Bungkus lies this Masjid Al Furqon, whose name means the mosque of the criterion, a Qur'anic epithet for the revelation which distinguishes truth from falsehood. Javanese Islamic heritage is woven through the teachings of the wali songo, the nine saintly figures whose gradual synthesis of Qur'anic teaching with older Javanese cultural forms produced a distinctive tradition of mosque architecture, gamelan inflected dhikr and wayang theatre that carries moral teachings drawn from both Islamic and Hindu epics. The Yogyakarta sultanate, founded by Sultan Hamengkubuwono I in seventeen fifty five, continues to this day as a constitutional monarchy within the Indonesian republic, its court preserving the Javanese classical arts and its scholars producing works on jurisprudence, devotional poetry and the Arabic sciences. Architecturally the Al Furqon mosque combines a traditional Javanese joglo style, with a tiered pyramidal roof rising in three receding layers of dark clay tile, and a modern concrete hall clad in whitewashed plaster. A single minaret finished in cream and green rises to one side, and a long porch shaded by zinc provides shelter during the tropical rains. Inside, ceiling fans rotate above a green carpet, the mihrab is tiled in cobalt and gold and the mimbar is carved from jati wood in the traditional Javanese manner. Daily prayers are called by a rotating muezzin, Jumu'ah is delivered in Bahasa Indonesia with Arabic Qur'anic passages and Ramadan evenings bring communal iftar, tadarrus and tarawih led by the village huffaz. Eid mornings draw families in batik finery, and the takbirat ring across the rice paddies from the evening before. Visitors are welcomed with sweet jasmine tea, shoes are left on low shelves and modest dress is expected. Nearby lie the Parangtritis beach, the Goa Cerme cave, the Sultan's Water Castle of Taman Sari and the famous Borobudur temple further inland. The imam keeps a small journal recording the rainfall, the rice harvest and the fishing catches of the Parangtritis coast, linking the rhythm of the agricultural year with the prayers of gratitude offered during the community's monthly shalawatan gatherings held after the evening prayer on the first Friday of each Javanese month.